“Got you some cherry Coke.”He took a can from the fridge and set it on the table.
“What’s the occasion?”I said.There had to be a catch.
And he went down on one knee.
“You—you’re serious?”I said.
“Just listen.I wrote a speech.”
He was really going to—
“It’s not as fancy as yours,” he said.“I just want the world to know I love you, but I especially want you to know I love you, tapper, because you’re the best person I’ve ever known, and you were worth every day I waited for you.”
He took a ring box out of his pocket and opened it.
“I had it commissioned,” he said.
I stared at it.He took the ring out of the box and put it in my hands, heavy and gold.Everything went shimmery, and all I could think about was how I’d told him how I felt about him in the kitchen at his and Trish’s place, asking him to be with me, and now he was in our kitchen asking me to be with him.
He put his hand on my shoulder.“I didn’t mean to upset you.”
I realized I was hurting his feelings.I slid off the chair onto my knees and grabbed him in a bearhug.“You lil shit.”I started crying, which made it worse.
He held onto me.“It’s supposed to feel good.You got your fancy proposal.That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?I’m making an honest man of you.You let me be your first time.It’s the least I could do.”
Which was making me lose it even more.I thwapped him on the back.“Stop.”
“Told you it was a good secret.”
I held him until my knees started to hurt from the hard kitchen floor.I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and pulled back.
“You wanna try it on?”he said.
I sat at the kitchen table and looked at the ring.“It’s got a bee on it.”
“Yeah, ’cause it’s from me.It’s onyx and gold—’cause gold’s your favorite color.”
The engraving on the inside read “honey kid & tapper.”
“It’s a thumb ring,” he said.He guided it onto my thumb.It fit perfectly.
“I measured you while you were asleep.Figured you wouldn’t mind.You gonna stop crying now?The food’s getting cold.”
That ring must have cost him everything he had.He would never have bought something so expensive for himself, but he’d done it for me.“I don’t fucking deserve this.”
“Craig, knock it off.I never bought anybody a ring before.I never wanted to marry anyone else.I’m the one who lucked out.Let’s eat.Then we can watch TV and fool around.How’s that sound?”
“I would love that, actually.”I started eating, but I kept stopping to stare at the ring because I couldn’t believe it was there.Then I’d look at him eating his burger because I couldn’t believe he was there either.The band of the ring around my thumb felt like his arms, hugging me.
